I have developed a system to help educators’ personal stresses using Emotional Freedom Technique or (EFT Tapping), so that they can better manage stress in and around the classroom.

Educators today are managing more stress than ever before, both in and outside the classroom. Dealing with student challenges over and over, from outbursts to meltdowns, parent conferences, broken copy machines, technology issues, mandatory meetings, the list goes on and on.

Individually these are just another inconvenience in the day, but accumulative can feel exhausting and become toxic stress contributing to burnout. The latest figures from the US Dept of Education states 40% of teachers will leave the profession within five years. This creates stress and pressure on all the districts’ departments.

Educators that know EFT Tapping cultivate resilience helping them manage physical and emotional stressors, enjoy life more and fulfill their original desire to teach our youth for the future.

EFT Tapping has been proven to help reduce anxiety, stress and improve self-esteem both for the educator and the student. It can be used with specific emotional intent toward your own life challenges as educators as well as used in group settings with students at the start of the day or special event.

EFT Tapping is effective, simple, safe and can be learned as young as four years old. You can apply it to yourself whenever you want and wherever you are. It’s less expensive and less time consuming than many other stress reducing methods.

There have been over 100 clinical trial studies with EFT Tapping showing positive results, 51 of them have been the triple blind gold stand study. As research is increasing in the application of EFT Tapping in the classroom Neuroscientist Dr. David Feinstein says, “…it is not a question of IF we use Tapping in our schools but When we will start using it”.

It’s Time! The research is in, we can’t afford to waste any more time not teaching EFT Tapping to our Educators and Students.

Contact me to discuss how we can start to improve your school’s positive climate.

Frequently Asked Questions

EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques, it works with the body’s energy system. Just think about the name, you are literally freeing yourself from negative emotions like hurts or fears. The Chinese discovered, we have a subtle energy that runs through the body carried through tiny pathways called meridians, they call this energy “Chi” and you can access the meridian through its endpoint. Tapping is relatively new as it was in 1979 when Dr. Roger Callahan, a psychologist first discovered success with patients using tapping on meridian points while addressing different issues. Today EFT Tapping has been researched in more than 10 countries by numerous gold standard studies proving its effectiveness in lowering cortisol levels and reducing stress and anxiety and other negative emotions.

Simply stated, it works on the body’s energy system and meridians. Meridians are our body’s electrical circuits. They are the roads our energy uses to travel from all parts of our body to and from our brain. Meridians are what Chinese health practitioners discovered some 5,000 years ago, and form the basis for acupuncture. But with Tapping, we don’t use any needles! You can stimulate these meridian energy points by tapping on them with your fingertips. I like to call these points, “special bundles of energy that can help you feel better”.

You probably already do some of them without even knowing. Have you ever noticed that when you feel stressed or upset about something you might put your head in your hands? Or if you feel a headache you may want to rub you head or neck? Or if something suddenly startles you, you may grab or put your hand on your chest? Those are things we intuitively do to feel calmer and in-control of your emotions. Because EFT is done by literally tapping on specific points with your fingertips, it is commonly called “Tapping” for short.

As Tapping is being introduced to students of all ages, research demonstrates Tapping can improve academic performance, decrease negative emotional states, improve self-esteem and resilience and better solve negative social interactions. According to Harvard Medical School “Tapping is proving to be a powerful, well-researched technique”.

It’s easy to do ‘Tapping’! Let me warn you, at first it might look weird because you’re going to be tapping on your face and body with your fingers, but just play with it for a while. You’ll be surprised after Tapping how big-deal things just won’t bother you so much, it’s amazing. Express your feelings as you Tap solidly yet gently on the energy points explained below, using two or three fingers with either hand, or both hands. As long as you stimulate the points, it doesn’t matter. This is why Tapping is called “acupressure for the emotions.” Use the same amount of pressure you would use if you were to tap your fingers on a table, knock, knock, knock … You want to make contact, but not cause discomfort. Tap roughly five to seven times on each point. While there are many more Tapping or energy points you can use, I will just describe the most commonly used points. If one point is uncomfortable to do (like the one under the arm), then just skip it. You can Tap on either the right side or left side it doesn’t matter. The order is not crucial either and you can even do the points in reverse. The good news is, Tapping is very forgiving. A great thing to remember is this, you can’t do Tapping wrong. So, just do it!

Here’s the basic Tapping Points:

Karate Chop – the outside edge of your hand, below your little finger.
Inner Eyebrow – on the end of either eyebrow, near the bridge of your nose.
Side of Eye – the outside of either eye, on the bone.
Under the Eye – about an inch below either eye, on the bone.
Under the Nose – above the lip.
Chin – below your lower lip, where your chin starts.
Collarbone – the inside end of either collarbone, below your throat.
Under Arm or Armpit – about four inches down, on the side of your rib cage.
Top of the Head – in line with your ears on the top of your head.
When you feel like you’re done Tapping take a Deep Belly Breath. (Stick out your tummy and breathe down deep then exhale).

Simply stated, it works on the body’s energy system and meridians. Meridians are our body’s electrical circuits. They are the roads our energy uses to travel from all parts of our body to and from our brain. Meridians are what Chinese health practitioners discovered some 5,000 years ago, and form the basis for acupuncture. But with Tapping, we don’t use any needles! You can stimulate these meridian energy points by tapping on them with your fingertips. I like to call these points, “special bundles of energy that can help you feel better”.

You probably already do some of them without even knowing. Have you ever noticed that when you feel stressed or upset about something you might put your head in your hands? Or if you feel a headache you may want to rub you head or neck? Or if something suddenly startles you, you may grab or put your hand on your chest? Those are things we intuitively do to feel calmer and in-control of your emotions. Because EFT is done by literally tapping on specific points with your fingertips, it is commonly called “Tapping” for short.

As Tapping is being introduced to students of all ages, research demonstrates Tapping can improve academic performance, decrease negative emotional states, improve self-esteem and resilience and better solve negative social interactions. According to Harvard Medical School “Tapping is proving to be a powerful, well-researched technique”.

So, what’s it doing to our brain? Research shows Tapping on these meridian energy points communicates with the Amygdala. Science has established that our stress response begins in the amygdala, which is one of the components of the limbic system or midbrain. It is part of what is commonly called our fight/flight response or primitive brain response. This served us well when we had to fight or flee from a tiger in caveman days, but today we don’t have tigers chasing us, we have daily stress and fears whether at school from peers or teachers, or at home. When we experience a negative experience or emotion it puts it in the same physical response as danger from the tiger. The good news is research at Harvard Medical School has shown that stimulation of selected meridian acupoints decreases activity in the amygdala, hippocampus (another part of the limbic system) and other parts of the brain associated with fear thus feeling calmer. It balances the body energy system.

Yes, it is a great do-it-yourself tool. Tapping is simple, effective technique that can be learned by anyone. You can choose to do it anytime or anywhere you feel the need. As young as four-year-old have benefited from tapping. You don’t need to know the theory behind tapping to feel better, happier and healthier. It just works! EFT reminds you that you are in charge of your feelings. Your troublesome feelings are not the boss of you! Life’s suppose to feel good.

We are bodies of energy. Just like Doctors use instruments to record electrical activities in your body, such as EEG or EKG. The energy in your body is just like electricity. It runs through you all the time, powering your body. EFT Tapping uses these energy meridians to clear energy blockages. If you look at the word emotion you will notice that e-motion is actually just ‘energy in motion’. The ‘E’ stands for ‘energy’ and ‘motion’ stands for movement. Think about it, we use words like I’m full of energy today or we may say, “I didn’t have my full energy in the game”. When you feel scared, angry or sad for example, the energy in your body gets stuck or freezes up. This causes a disruption in your body or interference similar to a short circuit “zzzzt” in a television set. By tapping we can smooth out the flow of energy or interference and the negative emotion can go away. At first Tapping may seem weird to you. You may even think it looks and sound ridiculous or silly. Once you try it and get results you’ll not only feel more comfortable about it, but you’ll be enthusiastic about it.

Podcast Interview with CUTV News

Lodi, CA– Terri Mays is the founder of Tapping With Terri, where she specializes in a unique healing modality called emotional freedom technique (EFT), otherwise known as Tapping. Mays is dedicated to improving the classroom experience by teaching Tapping in schools to both students as well as teachers and administrators.

“What I have to offer is an incredible technique that is very empowering” says Mays. “Students can use it anytime they feel a little nervous, scared or angry.”

Tapping has its origins in helping people suffering from PTSD. Gold standard studies have proven how EFT Tapping reduces stress and anxiety. Tapping with your fingertips on acupressure points on your body lowers cortisol, allowing students to feel less anxious, more focused and more engaged.

“The students do think it’s a little weird at first, because you literally Tap on pressure point on your face and upper body but easily jump right into it,” says Mays. “Because they can immediately feel a sense of calmness after only tapping five or ten minutes they readily embrace it. We tap together using their words and it promotes a unified positive connection.”

Mays had been teaching EFT for many years as a coach when she was inspired to bring EFT into schools after recent school shootings. Mays works with students of all ages but specializes in middle and high school. She says that’s typically when students’ hope and imagination turn into believing they’re not good enough and they retreat and feel they need armor to protect themselves.

“We all tap as a class together kids really want to do well” says Mays. After tapping, students feel more confident, calmer and have improved self-esteem.”